US cable companies preparing to offer TV streamed triple-a games

American cable companies AT&T, Verizon and Time Warner are preparing to enter the gaming race by offering streamed triple-a titles via television. It’s a move that – if executed correctly – could pose a real challenge to physical consoles moving forward.

MCV reports – via Bloomberg – that all three cable providers are looking to roll out streamed game services at some point in 2013, with the option to use smartphones as a controller currently being considered, as well as bespoke control pads.

MCV also notes that where streaming service OnLive saw difficulty, cable providers will not. All three cable providers have vast resources and due to the nature of cable set-top boxes, offer high speed streaming that would provide a suitable platform for streaming hefty titles.

Trials of all services are reported to begin at some point this year, and once launched they will collectively target around 50 million current subscribers. That’s a lot of people.

What do you think? Could streamed TV gaming really challenge consoles as we know them, or is this all a while off yet? Let us know below.